Virtual reality (VR) presented through head mounted displays (HMDs) are becoming a more and more popular way for consumers to interact with content. However, while much of the computer entertainment industry has seen a shift toward offering more social and inter-personal platforms of interacting with content, VR has been a notable exception. Indeed, VR users often find that virtual environments can be isolating and lacking in a social aspect. As VR continues to gain popularity, there is an opportunity to incorporate social and inter-personal components to enhance and humanize the VR consumer experience.
This is especially true when HMD users are co-located. For example, two co-located HMD users each within their own VR may wish to share their VR with the other and otherwise interact with one another within the VR environment. That is, there is an opportunity to not only enable co-located users to witness the same VR, but also to allow for the interaction between the avatars of the co-located users within a VR environment. Such inter-personal and “inter-avatar” interaction enhances the VR experience for users and allows content creators to incorporate social and multi-user dimensions into the VR content universe.
It is in this context that embodiments of the disclosure arise.